Altered State
by Species 125
Summary: My 1st fic, so please be gentle. I relly tried to get the right feel of the scene. Enjoy, and please R&R!


Altered State

by Species 125

Disclaimer:  I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters, yada yada yada.  Tiana Sidhe is mine, though.  A little different from the episode it's ripped from, but you get the picture! :D  Enjoy!

            All was darkness.  Quiet, save for the blowing wind through the seemingly endless streets of Tokyo.  It was the night of the new moon.  Clouds covered the expanse of sky visible between the buildings, throwing even more shadow on the path.

            A lone figure stumbled down the darkened road.  Glints from what little light there was revealed a woman dressed in a black gi and sandals, a strange many-bladed sword strapped to her back, and a dark-blue headband holding back her long brown hair.  She had been traveling for many hours, though she had no recollection of how she came to be there.  Only one thought occupied her mind, compelling her ever forward: _Must get there.  Must stop this madness before it destroys all!_  Swirls of color clouded her vision: green, red; betrayal, vengeance.

            As she approached the outer walls of the government building, something moved behind her.  She quickly ducked inside an open doorway and waited.  One shadow seemed to separate itself from those around it, and it leapt to the top of the wall.  It paused there, seeming to wait for something, then dropped to the other side.  Something began crawling deep in the pit of the woman's stomach.  She darted across the expanse to the wall, scaling the vines that clung tightly to it.  When she reached the top, she crouched there, but she saw no one on the other side.

            It was then that the first explosions began.  She turned to see guards shouting at each other, running for the outer gates.  But two men ran for the wall she was crouched on.

            One man, wearing a green headband, stopped and helped toss his friend up into the air.  "Don't stop!" he yelled, but the other ignored him.  When he landed on the wall's top he stood, his red headband flapping in the wind.  The woman could see the symbol emblazoned on the back of his gi: **aku, "wicked"**.  He removed the jacket, holding it down for the other man, who grasped it firmly and was hauled up.  They both then turned to face into the courtyard.

            "Kenshin…" the one in the red headband muttered.

            The woman looked, and saw whom he meant.  One lone swordsman, with long red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, emerged from the darkness.  There was a glint in his eye, revealing that he also recognized the two men, and that he regretted what he would have to do.

            The woman lowered herself quietly, crawling to a stand of trees and bushes.  The crawling in her stomach was working its way into her throat.  The scene felt all-too familiar, but how could that be?

            "Sano, do you know this guy?" the one with the green headband asked, his long black hair falling across his face.

            "Himura the Battousai," the one called Sano replied evenly,  "the man who is the legendary Manslayer."

            The woman gasped, as tendrils of memory suddenly blared to life within her.  _Himura… Kenshin Himura, the legendary Hitokiri Battousai?   But… I can't beat the Battousai, not here!  I wasn't able to before, not when…_

            The one in the green headband dropped off of the wall, his disgust clearly written on his face.  "Are the Imperialists gonna try to stand in our way again?" he spat out.  "But, unlike 10 years ago, this time it's the Sekihoutai… WHO WILL WIN!"  He brought out a pair of bombs that had been concealed in his sleaves.

            _He's going to try to kill the Battousai with… bombs?_ the woman thought.  The man lit the bombs, tossing them at the former Battousai.  Kenshin crouched down as they approached, then a flash…  They fell uselessly to the ground, the fuses no longer lit.

            "Oh, impossible!" the one in the green headband grumbled.  "What happened?"

            Sano leapt off the wall to stand next to his friend.  "He used his god-like speed to blow the burning fuses out with a single stroke, Katsu," he informed him, his gaze locking onto Kenshin's.  "Only Kenshin can do something like that."  Sano then announced his intention to fight, letting his jacket drop.  The wind caught it, blowing it to where the woman was hidden.  She caught it, and held it close to her as the fighting progressed..  She flinched every time that Kenshin landed a blow, and her heart ached as he flew through the air, his Ryu-Tsui-Sen making a bone-crushing thud on Sano's chest.  Katsu kept yelling at him to stop, and she wanted to scream with him.  Tears were streaming down her face, blurring her vision, but she forced herself to keep watching.  Finally, exhausted beyond all belief, Sano made one final charge, and Kenshin swung his sword, knocking him out.  He caught Sano before he could fall.  He handed him over to his friend, asking him to take care of his wounds.  He started to walk away, but the other called to him, calling him a hypocrite.  All Kenshin did was turn and smile.

            _How could he let himself be called a hypocrite and just smile?_ she thought.  As Kenshin walked away from the two, he passed near to where she was hidden.  It was all she could do to stay where she was and not leap out and hack him to pieces.

            After the rurouni was out of sight, she ran across the courtyard toward the two men.  Katsu looked up, his green eyes widening as she approached.  "Wh- where did you come from?" he stammered.  "What…"

            "Be quiet," she hissed, crouching down beside him.  "Or do you _want_ the guardsman to come back and find you two here?"  She helped him lift the now-unconscious Sano to his back.  "Hurry, we must get away while they're still outside."  They scaled the wall once more, then made their escape through the dark town.  Something followed them, unseen, as they ran.

            When they reached Sano's house, Katsu regarded her more closely.  "You seem… familiar, somehow," he finally said.  "Do I know you?"

            She drew water from the well in the central square, but said nothing.  They both went inside, being careful not to make any noise.  The man laid his sleeping friend in the bed on the floor, then lit a lantern, setting it beside him as he sat down.

            "Well, are you going to answer me or not?"

            She sat down next to him, keeping her eyes downcast.  Her hands were shaking as she replied, "How could that be, if we haven't met?  Though…"

            He reached out, grasping her hands in his own.  "That may be true," he said.  "but couldn't you at least tell me your name?"

            "My name?" she replied.  "…yes, my name.  It is Tiana Sidhe."

            "That's a lovely name," the man said.  "Mine's Katsu Tsukioka."

            Tiana raised her head, and Katsu flinched at the horror he saw in those gray eyes.  "Katsu… Tsukioka?  Then," she stammered, turning to look at the sleeping figure lying before her, "that means that he's Sanosuke Sagara!  And you two were with the Sekihoutai.  But…"

            "H- how did you know that?" Katsu exclaimed, his eyes widening even further.  "I thought you said that we've never met."

            "I… I don't know," she replied softly, tears starting to form in her eyes.  "Some- somehow I've seen this all before, and I thought that I… I…"  She started sobbing uncontrollably, and Katsu reached out to her, pulling her into his embrace.  "Shhhh," he whispered, stroking her hair as she wept her heart out.  "It's all right now."

            They sat that way for some time, as Tiana seemed to release all her pent-up energy into the welcome shoulder.  She then raised her head, locking her gaze on those inviting green eyes.

            "But… but, how can you say it's all right?" she managed to choke out.  "I… I couldn't stop him!  I couldn't even move!  None of this would've happened.  Sano would've been OK, and…"

            "Shhhh," Katsu whispered, placing a finger on her lips, silencing her ramblings.  He then raised his hand, gently stroking her tear-stained cheek.  "Both Sano and me are fine.  Though if Sano were awake, he'd probably say…"

            "If this is what you call OK, I'd hate to see what you would call beaten-to-a-bloody-pulp," a voice behind them groaned.  Sano, turned his head and regarded the two beside him.  "No need to cry over **me**, missy.  These little scratches will heal up in no time.  And I can take care of my own problems."

            "Well, you certainly did a bang-up job of it tonight, that's for sure," Katsu chuckled.

            Tiana laughed with him, drying her face with her sleeve.  She then crawled closer to Sano.  "He has a point, you know.  Katsu," she called over her shoulder, "could you get me some clean bandages and a couple of washcloths?"

            "Yes, ma'am!" Katsu said, leaping to his feet and disappearing into the next room.  Sano chuckled, regretting it as his ribs protested.

            "Hmmm, he seems awfully excited," he commented, as he tried to sit up.  He was promptly shoved back down.

            "Lay still, you idiot!" Tiana ordered, as Katsu re-entered with a pile of white cloth.  "or would you like me to give you a concussion to go with your bruised ribs?"

            Katsu handed her his load, trying not to laugh.  She dipped a cloth into the water and proceeded to clean the dirt and blood from Sano's face.

            "I'd be careful, Sano," he managed to choke out.  "She might actually do it, and I bet she hits even harder than Megumi!"  He then broke out into giggles.  The washcloth flew across the room, hitting him in the back of the head and knocking him over.

            "You want a concussion too?" Tiana grumbled.  "I may be no fox, but I can do a lot of damage."

            "…sorry," Katsu mumbled, handing her the washcloth.  His fingers lingered on hers for a few extra heartbeats.  ""But you still haven't said how you know all of us."

            She took the cloth, and proceeded to clean Sano's chest, being careful around the sword wounds.  "I'm still not entirely sure.  It's strange, but all of this is really familiar."  She and Katsu then helped Sano sit up, offering him a cup of clean water to drink.  He helped her bind Sano's ribs, then they lowered him back down.

            Tiana then stood, picking up the bucket.  "Until I can figure out what's going on, I'll need a place to stay."

            "I would say stay here," Sano chuckled, "but as you can tell, I don't have any extra room.  And the Kamiya dojo is out, unless you don't mind waking everybody up."

            Katsu stood as well.  "Well, there's always **my **place," he said.  "I have some extra bedding."

            Tiana smiled shyly at him.  "Then I guess it's settled.  Are you sure you don't mind?  I could always go and stay at an inn or something…"

            "No, it's no problem," Katsu replied, smiling back at her.

            Sano, raising himself slowly to one elbow, looked from one to the other and started chuckling again.  "Oh please, will you two knock it off already?"  The washcloth flew through the air again, hitting him squarely between the eyes and knocking him sorely back down.  "OOOOOWWWWW!!!  What was that for?"

            Tiana reached down and retrieved the cloth.  "For being a stupid moron, that's why," she muttered.  "Now try to get some sleep.  Or should I knock you into next Tuesday?"

            Sano cringed.  "OK, OK, I'll be good," he muttered.  He then closed his eyes, letting the pain and fatigue finally show as he slid off into sleep.  He promptly started snoring.

            As they left the house, Katsu had his ears plugged.  "He could wake the dead with that mouth!"

            Tiana giggled.  "You said it.  But I still feel bad."  She stopped walking, her eyes downcast.

            Katsu reached out, raising her chin so he could look into her eyes.  "Stop beating yourself up about it.  What's done is done, so let it go.  I'll be here for you."  

            Tiana wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him down and gently kissed him.  His arms encircled her waist, drawing her closer, and the kiss deepened.  Time seemed to stand still.

            Finally, she pulled away.  "We should get going," she whispered.

            Katsu stretched, yawning loudly, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.  She snuggled into his embrace, and they walked off into the darkness.

            A set of eyes watched them depart, then the dark figure walked off in the opposite direction.  All was quiet once again.


End file.
